LawCare

What is LawCare?

LawCare is a free and completely confidential advisory service to help lawyers, their immediate families and their staff to deal with the health issues and related emotional difficulties that can result from a stressful career in the law.

LawCare offers the opportunity for you to discuss problems which are interfering with, or have the potential to interfere with, your work performance and/or your family life and to seek help in resolving these problems.

Through LawCare, help is available to those who are suffering from stress and/or depression, or who have alcohol, drug or other dependency concerns or eating disorders.

LawCare is a registered charity funded by, but completely independent of :-¨   The Law Society of England and Wales¨   The Law Society of Scotland¨   The Law Society of Northern Ireland¨   The Law Society of Ireland¨   The Isle of Man Law Society¨   The Bar Council of England and Wales¨   The Faculty of Advocates (Scotland )¨   The Institute of Legal Executives¨   The Ministry of Justice ¨   The Institute of Barristers’ Clerks

Why has LawCare been established?

The legal profession is involved in solving other people’s problems. Many legal professionals believe that they should also be able to solve their own problems, even when these fall completely outside of their professional training and experience. As a result, lawyers find it very difficult to acknowledge when they need help themselves. However, they usually find it easier to take this step with another lawyer and so our helpline staff all have experience of the legal profession.Ignoring problems and hoping they will go away is not a viable solution. 

The first step is to recognise the existence of  the problem. The second  step is to seek objective, expert advice in dealing with it. That is where LawCare comes in. LawCare is here to help you to cope with the increasing number of stresses and related problems facing the legal profession today, any one of which can adversely affect your physical and mental wellbeing, professional performance and family life.

The LawCare service: is:-·       

totally free (although any subsequent professional counselling or treatment will normally have to be paid for, though we will help source funding if we can);

totally confidential;

available to all Judges, Lawyers, Legal Executives and law students, their immediate families and staff.

Of crucial importance to the service LawCare offers is the network of volunteers, themselves lawyers who, because of their personal experience in dealing with their own problems, or those of someone close to them, can offer a fellow lawyer additional, on-going support, on a more personal level. More volunteers are always needed and we would be pleased to hear from anyone prepared to help. The identities of volunteers are kept strictly confidential and no referrals occur without prior consultation.

Further information

A wide range of helpful information materials are available from LawCare free of charge. Individuals are welcome to request them and we would also encourage firms to make these available to staff. They cover such  topics as:¨        Stress and depression, including how to help a stressed colleague or employee¨        Alcohol misuse and/or addiction, including guidelines on how to judge whether there is  a problem¨        How to deal with an alcohol problem within the workplace¨        Alternative career ideas¨        Returning to the workplace following recovery from addiction or mental illness¨        Bullying¨        Bereavement¨        Eating disorders

All these materials, and more, are available on their website:  www.lawcare.org.uk.

Do you have an Alcohol problem?

Symptoms may include:·        Problems with relationships or work·        Preoccupation with alcohol including feelings of guilt·        Attempts (usually short-lived or unsuccessful) to control drinking·        Mood swings    Shaking and/or blackouts after heavy drinking.

Are you suffering from Depression?

Symptoms may include:·     Diminished interest or pleasure in activities·     Sleep disturbances·     Fatigue or loss of energy·     Indecisiveness and inability to concentrate·     Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. 

Are you suffering from Stress?

Symptoms may include:·        Reluctance to take time off work·        Bouts of irritation, anger and resentment·        Extreme exhaustion·        Physical illness – sometimes with a tendency to drink or smoke too much·        Too little time for family. 

ConfidentialityLawCare is a completely confidential service. None of the professional bodies have any direct involvement in the provision of LawCare services. Their involvement is solely in the funding of the service and no details relating to callers are passed to them beyond statistical information. 

For Confidential help and advice call one of our Freephone Helplines  

Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.

Weekends/public holidays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.